The
Leonard Family of the Caribbean
Salt Island, British Virgin Islands
Salt Island, BVI
 My
Leonard ancestors are originally from Salt Island, British Virgin
Islands. The island is rich with BVI history and culture. In the
old days, Salt Island was a supplier of the salt for the British Navy's
Caribbean fleet from it's salt ponds. Although Salt Island was owned by
Britain, the island and its salt ponds were operated by the local
people.
The island’s salt is harvested during the dry season, usually early
spring, when the water in the island’s two shallow salt water ponds
slowly evaporates, leaving a hard crust of salt on the bottom and along
its edges. In the days before commercially packaged salt and
refrigeration, people from throughout the Territory would join Salt
Islanders in the annual harvest. A time of both hard work and festivity,
the harvesting would be preceded by a party with food and music lasting
well into the night. The following morning, the opening or the “breaking
of the pond” would be presided over by the Territory’s Governor, a
government agent and a contingent of the Royal BVI police force.
The general public was allowed to reap for two days only, after which
it was restricted to island residents. According to the law, all
harvesters were required to give the government one bag of salt for
every three collected and a fine was charged for reaping without
permission.
 Salt
reaping is hard and tedious work, consisting of wading into the pond,
finding a depression in the submerged salt and breaking pieces off the
edge. The salt, which comes in both coarse and fine grades, is then
dried and stored in the salt house, a windowless structure sitting
between the pond and settlement. But in spite the difficulties, up to
1,000 pounds of salt were once harvested annually.
Salt Island once boasted a community of over 100 people, including
our Leonard ancestors, and a thriving salt industry. By the 1970s
the island’s young people had left to attend school and find work, and
only eight, mostly elderly residents, remained on the island. Now there
is only Norwell Durant, who remains because Salt Island is his home, and
so that he can share with visitors the traditions of a bygone way of
life.
Salt is still harvested on the island, but on a much smaller scale.
You can still find salt harvested from the Salt Island pond in local
stores on Salt Island and in the BVI. Each year the harvesters pay
their token tithe to the queen - one sack of salt.
A great tragedy occurred in 1867 on the rocks of Salt Island, when
the 31-foot Royal Mail Ship Rhone sank in a storm, taking 125 persons
with her (the only survivors were some crew and an Italian passenger).
Its remains are extensive and have become a fascinating underwater
habitat for marine life. It is part of the national park system and is
rated the most popular wreck dive in the Caribbean by numerous dive
publications.
Adam "Tardam"
Leonard
My 3rd Great Grandfather
My eldest Leonard ancestor is from Salt Island, British Virgin
Islands. Adam "Tardam" Leonard is said to have lived to the
age of 115, born just before the beginning of the 18th century and died
in 1915. It is also said that Adam is the son of an African slave
from Ghana. He was given the nickname "Tardam" because his skin was very
dark and his hair was thick and curly.
According to a 1997 Leonard family reunion booklet, Tardam's spouse
was a woman named Sarah. No other information was available about
Sarah's lineage. However according to the Registry, Adam and Sarah's
children were:
1. Cornelius Leonard born 1859.
2. Jane Eliza Leonard born 1862.
3.
Rebecca Augusta and William Henry "Bullah" Leonard were
twins, born 1864. William is my 2nd great grandfather.
4. Rosetta Alberta Leonard born 1876.
My 2nd Great Grandfather
William Henry "Bullah" Leonard
William Henry "Bullah" Leonard was the fraternal twin of his
sister Rebecca Leonard - both born in 1864. His father was Adam "Tardam"
Leonard and his mother was named Sarah.
Bullah's life long partner was
Alice Louisa
(VANTERPOOL) JENNINGS. Alice was born in 1867, the eldest of four
children born to Louise Elizabeth JENNINGS (also known as Elizabeth
Jennings or "Dippy) and a
VANTERPOOL
man whose name is unknown.
Alice Jennings was charmed by Bullah and migrated from Tortola to
Salt Island. She never returned to her homeland. No definite date has
been found of Bullah's death - but it is believed that he died around
1951 or 1952, and buried on Salt Island. Alice also died on Salt
Island in 1955. They were never married but they shared their
entire lives together as the parents of nine children (three died in
infancy):
1. Sarah Louisa Leonard, born 1898 and died 1954 or 1958 (no
offspring)
2. Cornelius Leonard born 1899, died 1970. He married Maria
White, the daughter of Adolph White and related to the White family in
Anegada. Cornelius and Maria had 19 children; five died in
infancy.
3. James "Jim" Leonard, born 1901, died 1992. He married
Melvina SMITH and had five children.
4. Halva Leonard, is my great grandfather. He was born
1903 in Salt Island and died 1977 in Virgin Gorda. He
married Sylvanita Stevens of Tortola, and also had a child with my
great grandmother,
Ruth Malone of
Virgin Gorda.
5. Beatrice Alberta Leonard, also known as "Arbie", born
1906 and died in 1985. Arbie married Clarence SMITH in 1930 and they
had eight children. (Note that her husband was the brother of her
sister Clementine's husband, Gerald SMITH.)
6. Helena Clementine Leonard was born 1911 and died May
2002. "Clemmie" married Gerald Smith of Peter Island, and they had
nine children (one child died in infancy).
7. Jacob Leonard birth date unknown; died in infancy.
8. Marie Leonard birth date unknown; died in infancy.
9. Louise Leonard birth date unknown; died in infancy.
My Great Grandfather
Halva Leonard
 Halva
Leonard was born Monday, 06 July 1903 on Salt Island, BVI. He was one of
nine children born to Alice (Vanterpool) Jennings of Tortola and William
Henry "Bullah" Leonard of Salt Island.
Because of a lack of educational facilities on Salt Island, Halva was
sent to Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands at an early age to receive
an education. He was raised by his guardian, Tanti Liaz (grandmother of
Ivy Flax and great grandmother of Myrtle Reese).
Halva supplemented his livelihood with fishing and gardening. Around his
village, he was known to be a good cook and on a given day when he was
cooking, it is said that everyone would come for his or her share. He
passed on this love of cooking to several of his children who own
established restaurants and bakeries.
When Halva was a young man, he became interested in boat building which
was a thriving industry at that time. One of the components of boat
building was a sealant called pitch - used to seal the seam of the boats
against leakage. (The product used for sealing boats in those days was
made from the fruit of the pitch apple tree. These trees are indigenous
to Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. Upon maturity of the fruit,
they were peeled and placed over heat in a container and a type of
double broiler that processed the fruit to a sticky substance called
pitch.) Halva developed the art of processing this substance. He became
known for this skill and sold this product to businesses as far away as
Puerto Rico.
Halva is my paternal great grandfather, and the spouse of my great
grandmother,
Ruth Malone of Virgin Gorda. They never married, and had only one
child together. Halva later married Sylvanita Stevens of Tortola and
they had 10 children.
After a brief illness, Halva passed away in June 1977; he was about
73 years old. He was buried on his beloved island of Virgin Gorda, where
he rests today.
Thank you Jackie and Patricia Vanterpool, Cheryl G. Mason, Violet L.
Thomas (Nana), Jeanette Leonard, Gloria Malone-Neal and Dolores Petersen
for sharing whatever information and photos you all had with me.
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